Mobile Manufacturers Forum backs Telstra’s initiatives for disabled Australians

A snippet from Telstra.com's web portal.

The Mobile Manufacturers Forum (MMF) is backing Telstra’s new Web portal, claiming it is a significant step in breaking down barriers restricting members of the Australian community.

MMF is an international association of telecommunications equipment manufacturers with an interest in mobile or wireless communications.

Telstra unveiled its integrated Web portal on September 16. The service, accessible via Telstra.com, enables criteria-based selection of smartphones through 20 filters which are segmented into vision, dexterity, hearing, hardware, and cognitive impairment.

“Telstra is the first carrier in the world to fully integrate data from the mobile industry’s Global Accessibility Reporting Initiative (GARI),” MMF secretary general, Michael Milligan, said.

GARI is a project developed by the MMF that provides accessibility information for 218 different mobile devices available to the Australian market.

“As a result, access to mobile communications has just become a lot easier for Telstra’s customers who live with a disability.”

“For example, a customer with vision impairment can now use the Telstra web portal to search for a new smartphone that has a built in screen reader that will read out screen content.”

Unfortunately, though, Telstra did not stock any phones with a screen reader at time of writing. Other filters return limited results, but the spread is, overall, a healthy one.